20 December 2016 - Panera Bread® in the US has announced its intention to improve the welfare of broiler chickens by 2024.

They will align their broiler chicken policy with the Global Animal Partnership’s Broiler Chicken Standard.

With the help of other market participants, they aim to achieve the following by 2024:

Use new broiler breeds recognized as having higher welfare outcomes
Provide birds more space (reduced stocking density)
Offer improved environments, including litter, lighting and enrichment
Ensure birds are rendered unconscious using multi-step controlled atmospheric stunning

Compassion is delighted with this announcement as they are the first national restaurant to commit to higher welfare broiler standards which will positively impact the lives of over 17 million birds in the future.

Leah Garces, US Executive Director, Compassion in World Farming said: “When it comes to chickens, Panera is leading the pack - not only are they doing the right thing for their business, they’re doing the right thing for animals. We commend this commitment, which is a signal to the entire restaurant sector that demand for higher welfare is not going away and now is the time to take action.

Panera is the first national restaurant company to step up, and we are confident that others will soon follow their example. They join Aramark, Compass Group and Pret who have all made similar commitments to broiler welfare in the US in the past couple of months.”

Panera Bread® joins move to improve broiler welfare in USA